Tried my month-old kimchee in the (accidentally) over thick sauce today. After a month in the fridge, the stalks are still nicely crisp and the leaves are all buttery tender. Also has a nice sourness from the extra starch.

I have been sick for the better part of the month. My energy levels were bad enough that throwing mice to Dorian was enough exercise for the day. Homemade meals, in comparison, took a pretty hard backseat to everything going on. I did make a braised beef brisket for the first time, and for the first time, I cooked beef in the oven that didn't turn out totally inedible. I made up a pesto concentrate from the Vietnamese mint and basil I grew to marinade the beef in. The fresh leaves from the garden are incredibly intense, with a sharp bite for both. I may want to switch out to a sweet basil next year. The variety I have, which is supposed to be fino verde, is meant to be sweet and spicy, and more importantly, grow in a ball, but what has come out of the ground is clearly a tall, thriving bush, even with intense pruning. I would very much like to see if the herbs last through most of the winter, making for lots of tasty pesto and salad.

We had an unusually delicious and extra flattened thin crust pizza last night from the local Paxti's that delivers to our friends cr0wgrrl and kn1ghtshade. I like my pizza extra flat and kind of simple. This was cheese and basil and dried tomatoes. The basil had baked so thoroughly in the cheese, it was gelatinous with a crunch, like tender, just-cooked kombu. This led me to the idea that pre-cooked kombu on pizza could be a delicious idea. Mild, bland cheese, a tart and slightly sweet lemon marmalade, just enough baking to melt the cheese and brown the crust. Maybe a drizzle of light soy sauce and lemon zest after?

Also now curious to try cooking with corn smut, possibly in cheese tamale form. I've never made tamales before, and will have to jerry rig a steamer with the wok for the job (half of every tool in my kitchen is a jerry-rigged something), but it sounds possible. Corn smut, huitlacoche in official name, otherwise looks like a mushroom and apparently tastes like a mushroom. I know mokie tried it once -- will need to ask her again if it tasted, well, tasty.

Somewhere out there, my husband is reading this and going, "Whaaat. What are you planning to feed us now?"

Other grand plans for foodening - figure out what goes into Good Earth's Sweet & Spicy Tea & Herb Blend, which is some of the best unsugared-yet-sweet spicy orange tea I've had. Then! Reverse engineer the ingredients into a dry spice rub for chicken or turkey, and braise it many hours.